Reseach

- (Assistant) Supermarketmanager (fulltime)
You are the direct management colleague and the substitute Supermarketmanager. You connect with customers, employees and neighbours. You help with organising the store as well as being a host for customers. Finance, planning for employees, team meetings, job interviews, new plans/organisation and meetings about new products are what you will be busy with during the week.

- Cashier A (side job)
Minimum of 16 years old. As a Cashier you are the business card of the store, you are the person the customers see. So you make sure the checking out goes fast and carefully so the customers leave the store with a good feeling.

- Quality employee (side job)
Minimum age of 15 years old. Makes sure the whole store is/stays clean and safe. For both customers as well as colleagues. This person also checks all the due dates on the products as well as the temperature of the fridges, make sure the trash cans are changed, coffee machines filled and the store is swept.

- Sales employee (side job)
Minimum age of 16 years old. As a sales employee you work on the control department of cheese & meats, bread or vegetables & fruit. You will become a specialist in these departments and can tell everything about it. Customers expect product knowledge and the best advice from you.

- Filling crew member (side job)
Minimum of 14 years old. As a member of the filling crew you help with unloading the truck and filling the shelves. You make sure the store looks well taken care of and help customers when they can’t find a product. You do this in a team, this way you help each other and it stays fun.

- Cassiere b (side job)
Minimum of 16 years old. As a cashier B you are able to stand at the service desk and on the selfscan plaza. You are able to open and close the store as well as guide and help the other cashiers/colleagues. You make sure you are polite and help customers when they have a complaint or want to bring/switch a product.

- Cashier Selfscan (side job)
Minimum of 16 years old. As a cashier on the self scan department you are the business card of the store. You help customers at the self scan station but also check if everything is scanned.

- Department manager (part-time)
Minimum of 16 years old. When you work this job you have to make sure the store keeps running, you guide and motivate your team. Every department (filling crew, cashier and sales) has their own department manager, however these managers are expected to know and are able to help all departments.

Positions within the Albert Heijn and their capabilities:

Level 1 – Cashier A, Quality employee, Sales employee and member of the filling crew.
Level 2 – Cashier Selfscan, Cashier B.
Level 3 – Department manager.
Level 4 – Supermarket manager.

Level 1 is expected to do the basic work as well as listen to the levels that are above them, they do the basic work which contains of the basic tasks that is in their job description.

Level 2 is expected to guide and help the workers from Level 1 as well as do extra tasks such as opening/closing the store. They are also trusted to go to the safe (if nessecary) and when problems are found to find a solution for them, this can range to a wrong balance in cash difference, dealing with complaints to finding people to work for open shifts.

Level 3 is expected to overlook the staff of Levels 1 & 2 and make sure they do their job as instructed. They also deal with problems that Level 2’s can’t find a solution for as well as making the planning for all the workers and their shifts. These people are also the ones to deal with customers when the Level 1 or 2’s feel uncomfortable or don’t know how to deal with a customer. They also make sure all the employees are comfortable and satisfied with their job.

Level 4 is expected to overlook all the employees. They also deal with changes in the store, job applicants, finance, team meetings and being a host for the store. They also deal with firing and hiring people as well as making sure there are no issues on each department.

The levels in the store from low to high ordered in levels for ease:

- The canteen and office in the back
- The big storage room
- Behind the sevicedesk or bread department
- The small storage closet behind the servicedesk
- The counting office and the safe

The spaces are locked but every employee is allowed to go there, however for certain areas you do need a good reason to go there this is mainly the safe, counting office, behind the service desk and the small storage closet.

Where are customers not allowed to go but employees are?

The information below is what I collected about the rules in the Albert Heijn, from personal experience and online.

There are a few rules applied to having/taking breaks when working a shift, these are the following:
- Every store has their own rules to small breaks. In my store when you work 4 – 5.15 hours you have the right to a 15 min break, which is paid. Officially you aren’t allowed to eat or smoke in this break, however our manager allows us to buy food from the store and eat it in this small break. Smoking isn’t allowed.

- When you work 5.30 – 8.25 hours you have the right to a 15 min paid break and a 30 min not paid break. The same rules apply for the 15 min break but for the 30 min break the rules can differ. You first of all are allowed to both eat or smoke. When you work after 19.00 in your shift you have the right to a meal. The budget for this is around $7.50 and then you are allowed to get a main dish, a dessert and a drink of your choice from the store.

- The time you take walking to and from a department is always included into your break. However in my store this is not watched closely.

- When you are on a break you have to sit in the canteen.

- There is a difference when it comes to breaks with employees under & above the age of 18. I put this in a table so it becomes more clear:

Working at the Albert Heijn when you are younger than 21 you earn the minimal wage, unless you get a promotion but these often happen after you turn 18. Due to the corona virus we are getting 30% more on our November salary which normally is 40% so we will get paid 70% on top of our regular salary in December.

This compensation is because when corona just started Albert Heijn was one of the few stores that didn’t give their employees anything for their hard work and this brought up protests via the media.

Hierarchies within the company

When you walk through the store there are a few things to take in account, these are things you are not conscious of but do influence the way you move through the store, especially now with Covid.

When walking in a supermarket there are different types of people, I wrote them down with some context so it is easier to explain how these people interact with each other:

- The "quick" customer, this person is in a hurry and just needs to quickly get some products. They often walk hurridly through the store and dodges other people as they do so. They often go to the self scan check-outs and don't talk to employees.

- The "just dinner" customer, this person just comes in to buy dinner for themselves. They often stay in the first half of the store and don't go to the snacks, soda and condiment areas. When they have a plan they tend to quickly get their products but when they don't they tend to linger whilst thinking of what to get.

- The "business" customer, this person is on their lunch break of work and just comes to get some type of lunch and one drink. They tend to go to the prepped meals, bread and soda's but not in the other area's of work. Often they come with other collueages and can be quite loud/talkative with eachother.

- The "I've never been here" customer, this person comes to do their usual groceries but isn't aware of the lay out of the store. This person keeps walking through the store to find their products, also going against the walking route.

- The "Old, regular" customer, this person comes daily and sees this as a way to get out of the house and interact with people. They tend to walk quite slowly through the store and if they see someone they know, they stop for a chat. These people always go to the check-out with a cashier, again to have some interaction.

- The "student association" customer, this customer always has someone with them. They mainly buy beer in bulk but often also come for dinner. They often are obnoxious and loud but always kind to employees. They can be a bit chaotic which couses them to bump into customers.

- The "parent" customer, this customer moves through the store quite regularly. The only problem is that they bring their child, which runs off or starts crying hysterically. So often these parents are more busy with their child than actually doing groceries.

- The "annoying kid" customer, this customer is a child between the age of 8 - 12 and they most of the times come to the store in a small group to buy candy and soda. They run and scream through the store and are absolutely ignorant that there are actually other people doing their groceries.

- The "weekly" customer, this customer comes to the store once a week to do all their groceries. They often bring a grocery list and move to the store fluently and are able to locate and grab their products. They are quiet and practical shoppers.

When you walk through the store these customers interact with one another whether they are aware of it or not. This can be reacting to a sound, someone standing in the way, bumping into someone or asking an employee something.

I'm sure you are able to recognize or identify yourself with these stereotypes when you do groceries and if you don't, it might be fun to look for them next time you go and do groceries.

Body movements of customers in the store

The sales techniques behind the lay-out of the store

- The store puts dairy products, bread and vegetables (seen as the most necessary/willed products) not close to each other so people have to go through the whole store.

- The store provides bigger carts and baskets so people are able to fit more products into them.

- The store shows meal ideas or puts products for a complete meal close to each other in the hope customers buy them.

Renee de Keijzer / 0959947

What importance does hiararchy have in a supermarket and how can I create awareness about this amongst customers?

Employees move differently when they work, in the way they interact with colleages and customers.

As you can find in my research the people that work are in the Albert Heijn are catagorized in different levels regarding their functions. This also influences the interactions between the levels. In the mapping besides this I have visualised this but i also wrote down the differences in interactions between different functions and customers.

Level 1: They have interactions like friends would have. They make jokes, are comfortable with each other and some see eachother besides work too. The respect they have are like friends, they also converse like this with eachother.

The way they interact with Level 2 can differ per person but most treat them with the same respect as a Department manager. However the interactions are still qiute close to ones you have with friends, also because Level 1 & 2 work together most of the times so it's only logical they are closer than with a Level 3 or 4.

Level 3 and 4 are treated with the same respect. They are seen as the 'boss' so people always speak respectfully to them and make sure they are doing their work when these people are near. The way to speak to these people is always done kindly and formal, people present themselves always as perfect/hard workers.

Level 2: These people try and act more strict with Level 1 as they have to guide them and give orders. If you act too friendly Level 1 might lose the respect for your function and even refuse to do what you ask them to.

The way these people interact with Level 3 or 4 is similar to the way Level 1 does this but because this function is closer to Level 3 or 4 it's not nessecarily a big pressure. They converse respectfully but there is room for some jokes which makes it also more fun to work with them.

Level 3: They interact very proffesionally with Level 1 and 2, they indirectly make sure these levels have respect for them and also behave respectfully around them. Because they will say when something is not going well they can be seen as quite intimidating or mean but they purely do this so the store is represented in the best possible way.

The way they interact with Level 4 is very natural, also like friends but less than in Level 1. Because they work very closely with eachother there is mutual respect.

Level 4: They try to be stricts with all levels which is nessecary to be taken serious. They also expect to be treated and taked to with respect. They will also speak up when there is a problem or something needs to be adjusted.

As previously said they have a closer bond with Level 3 because they often need to do work together which makes them get to know eachother also a lot better than the people from Level 1 & 2.